BLOCK: Lazer-Walker says he created the program to poke fun at people who use the word literally incorrectly, though some dictionaries have now expanded its definition to include it as an informal intensifier. But Lazer-Walker's browser extension doesn't discriminate.

LAZER-WALKER: It's not intelligent at all. It doesn't try to figure out, like, did you actually mean literally as in the thing that actually happened or are you just using it for emphasis? It just blankly replaces every instance of literally with figuratively.

CORNISH: But he does appreciate when literally is used correctly.

LAZER-WALKER: There was a baseball game recently where - I assume it was the batter, he hit the ball so hard that the ball actually fell apart. And so when all these news headlines said, you know, the player literally destroyed a baseball, he did literally destroy it.

CORNISH: But if you were using the program?

LAZER-WALKER: He figuratively destroyed it.

BLOCK: A few people have tried to persuade Mike Lazer-Walker that the second definition of literally is equally valid. But he says the response to his browser extension has been largely positive. In fact, some have said it is figuratively the best thing ever.